About the role
WHO WE ARE
Kunin Technologies is revolutionizing the critical mineral supply chain by implementing advanced separation technologies to capture value from overlooked resources.
Metals are everywhere, in solar panels, smartphones, electric vehicles, but as ore grades plummet globally, traditional extraction methods are failing. China dominates critical minerals markets by developing superior separation technologies that extract value from materials American mines discard as waste.
Utilizing Kunin Technologies' breakthrough performance, ion-exchange media significantly more value can be produced from each resource, reducing waste, and unlocking metal abundance.
To achieve metal abundance, humanity must bring separation science down its own Moore’s Law: fix the idiot cost index for micro and nano scale separation materials. This requires mass manufacturing novel ion-exchange media form factors which previously struggled from high costs.
THE ROLE
Group 14 metals (germanium, tin, silicon) are critical materials of the data center build-out, and Kunin is designing, guaranteeing and commissioning a group 14 metal chlorination plant overseas for an industrial partner: metal-bearing feeds from the partner's own process are converted by chlorination, purification and hydrolysis to an electronic-grade metal product, with Kunin's proprietary ion-exchange media recovering the metal from the dilute process liquors. Bench and mini-pilot process development runs in Chattanooga from December 2026 to May 2027, basic engineering issues in May 2027, the plant is built from modular skids in parallel with civil works, and commercial operation is targeted for the first quarter of 2028. The plant is built and operated by our partner; Kunin owns the process, the design package, the performance guarantee and the training of the operating team.
You own the numbers the plant is guaranteed against. An electronic-grade metal chloride specification means every metal at or below 10 parts per billion and boron and phosphorus at or below 5; a 5N metal oxide specification means parts per million. You develop and validate the ICP-MS, ICP-OES, ion chromatography and GC methods for the chlorination product, oxide feeds and process liquors, including fusion digestion that does not lose the metal as volatile chloride, and you run release testing for the two process development programs and the mini-pilots. You then write the release-test methods the plant's laboratory will use, qualify the referee laboratory, and train the partner's laboratory staff in Chattanooga and at the partner's site.
You are part of the research team in Chattanooga and work daily with the distillation process engineer, the process chemists and the laboratory technicians. This is the first of a series of Kunin-designed metal recovery and conversion plants. You are a founding member of Kunin's Capital Projects team, whose goal is 100 critical metal projects in 10 years. Once this plant is through its gates you are expected to be executing design and delivery work on two to three projects in parallel.
By 12 February 2027 we expect validated ppb-level ICP-MS methods for the metal chloride and certificates of analysis on the first electronic-grade samples. By 17 March 2028, the partner's plant laboratory running the release methods you wrote.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Method development and validation for trace metals in the chlorination product (ICP-MS at ppb), oxide feeds (ICP-OES/MS), solid feeds (XRF, ICP after fusion) and process liquors; chloride and fluoride by ion chromatography; organics by GC
- Release testing and certificates of analysis for the bench and mini-pilot programs; sample logistics with the third-party and referee laboratories
- Sample preparation for volatile, hydrolysable chlorides and for metal-bearing solids without loss of the metal; contamination control at ppb levels
- The plant's release-test methods, laboratory specification and instrument list; qualification of the partner's laboratory
- Training of the partner's laboratory staff and the laboratory data system for the plant
QUALIFICATIONS AND PREFERRED SKILLS
- Bachelor's degree in chemistry required; Master's or PhD in analytical chemistry preferred.
- 5+ years of trace-metal analysis by ICP-MS in a semiconductor, electronic materials, specialty gas or high-purity chemicals laboratory; has validated methods at single-digit ppb.
- Experience with sample preparation of chlorides or other moisture-sensitive materials and with fusion or peroxide-sinter digestion of refractory solids.
- Familiar with ISO 17025 practice: method validation, uncertainty, control charts, proficiency testing.
- Ability to work in fast paced and demanding atmosphere
- Creative problem solving that brings together sample chemistry, instrument capability and quality systems to certify product at parts per billion.
COMPENSATION
This role will pay $75,000 - $150,000, benefits, and equity.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
- Position located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Travel to the partner's site to qualify the plant laboratory and train its staff in 2027 and 2028.
- Extended hours and weekends frequently required to support critical project milestones.
- Kunin will do whatever it can to secure work authorization for the right candidate.
Chattanooga is more beautiful than expected, and Tennessee has no income tax.
"The Whole World Is Ion-Exchange And The Rest Are Merely Details!"
Dr. Robert Kunin of Rohm and Haas, The Pioneer of the Ion-Exchange Industry, 1951